


A Family Visit

by E_Hiiragizawa



Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [5]
Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Family, Gen, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 16:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Hiiragizawa/pseuds/E_Hiiragizawa
Summary: Fujitaka, Touya & Yukito visit Sakura & Eriol in London. Set about a year after "High School Reunion".
Relationships: Eriol Hiiragizawa/Kinomoto Sakura, Kinomoto Touya/Tsukishiro Yukito
Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126565
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'ed. Just a lighthearted short piece that I wrote. But this will move the series along. Also because I miss the rest of the family and Touya-Sakura bickering.

"Hospital?! What happened?!" Sakura asked Touya over the phone. She had just finished her lunch when Touya called to tell her that their father was in the hospital.

"Exhaustion. He's been busy lately, with some new projects. Earlier, he collapsed in the office and they rushed him to the hospital. The doctor said he's too tired and that he has pushed himself too hard." Touya explained. "Nothing to worry about. But he needs to rest and take a break. Let's be honest here, we all saw this coming."

This was what she'd been worried about for the past few years. "I've told him he needs to get some rest, take a break… How's he doing?"

"Pretty upset, actually. He was supposed to go on a dig site tomorrow, but obviously that's not going to happen now." Touya said. "He didn't want me to call you, but hey, there's nothing he can do about it."

"Thanks for letting me know, Touya. What is he going to do, do you know?" Sakura asked as she loaded the plates into the dishwasher.

"I'm going to ask him to take a vacation. Yuki and I are going to take a few weeks off work. We're going to take him somewhere." Touya said. "Maybe it's time we visit you guys in London, seeing that it's almost Christmas and all."

"That's a great idea! Since Eriol and I are not going back to Japan this year, you guys should come over and we'll spend Christmas and New Year here. We're going to the lake house. That would be very good for Dad!" Sakura said excitedly.

"Yeah, well, the problem is how do we convince him to go? He's itching to go back out there to the dig site." Touya said and saw Yukito call him. "You should call him. Oh, and get Eriol to call him. Maybe he can talk some sense into him. We're going to gang up on him. I've got to go. The doctor is here."

"Okay. Please keep me posted, ok Touya?" Sakura told her brother before they hung up. Sakura sighed heavily. She had been telling her father to take a break, but he was adamant that he was fine. Now he had collapsed and had to be hospitalized.

Sakura told her husband about it over dinner and about Touya's idea about coming over for Christmas and New Year.

"That's a good idea." Eriol agreed.

"The problem is, we need to convince Dad. Call him, talk to him. Maybe he'll listen to you." Sakura said as she placed his food in front of him.

The next day, Eriol called his father-in-law and talked to him. Sakura had also talked to her Dad and like Touya said, they were all going to gang up on him to get him to agree to take a vacation.

Finally, Fujitaka agreed to take a vacation and go to London to visit his daughter and son-in-law. They quickly made the arrangement and they'd be arriving in London a week before Christmas and would stay until a week after New Year.

* * *

On the day of their arrival, Sakura and Eriol went to the airport to pick them up.

"Over here!" Sakura waved her hand excitedly when she spotted them walking out.

They greeted each other.

"Dad, how are you doing? Are you feeling okay?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I'm okay, Sakura." Fujitaka assured her.

They walked to the parking garage as they chatted. They would be staying in their house for the duration of their stay.

They loaded up their bags into the trunk of Eriol's car and piled up inside. Sakura sat in the back with Touya and Yukito, while Fujitaka sat on the passenger seat up front.

"This is your house?" Touya looked at the big house after they stepped out of the car at the front door.

Sakura nodded. "Welcome!"

"Wow! It's huge!" Touya took in the entrance hall, the grand staircase and the general feel of the house. The house was old fashioned, like the ones seen in historical shows or books. There were plenty of rooms and although Eriol had done many renovation to modernize it, he left some parts in the original state and design.

"It's a little on the big side." Sakura led them upstairs and assigned them their rooms. Touya and Yukito would be sharing a room, while Fujitaka would have the room for himself. After they'd put their bags away, she gave them the tour of the house.

Fujitaka was happy to see that his daughter was well taken care of, not that he ever doubted Eriol. It was clear to him, and everyone else, that the young sorcerer was very much in love with his wife. From the look of things, his son-in-law had money and he wasn't hesitant to spend it on Sakura.

After the tour, they took them to dinner at one of the upscale Japanese restaurants.

"I heard that fish and chips are popular here. Maybe we can try them at some point?" Fujitaka asked.

"Yes, of course. There's one near our place, so we'll definitely get it." Sakura nodded. "We've also booked some attractions, including a tour to the Buckingham palace. I've never been there myself, so it's going to be new experience for me too."

"I've never been there either." Eriol said. "This is a good opportunity to tour London."

"But, we're going to the lake house for Christmas?" Touya reviewed the plan.

"That's the plan. But if everyone would rather spend Christmas in the city, that's fine by us." Sakura said.

"A lakehouse sounds nice. I personally would love to go there." Yukito said and Touya and Fujitaka agreed with him.

"Okay, so if everyone agrees, then we can go." Sakura nodded.

* * *

The next day, Fujitaka woke up pretty early at 5.30am. He looked out of the window and saw that it was still dark outside. So, he stayed in bed for a little longer before finally getting up at 6.30am. He got dressed and stepped outside. He wanted to go downstairs, but ended up getting lost.

"Good morning." Someone greeted him.

Fujitaka spun around and saw Spinel. "Oh, good morning, Spinel."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Mr. Kinomoto." Spinel apologized.

"That's alright." Fujitaka assured him.

"Master is in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Mistress is still asleep though. She usually wakes up at 7am or so." Spinel informed Fujitaka.

"I'm trying to find the kitchen, but I'm afraid I've gotten lost." Fujitaka admitted.

"Please follow me. I'll take you to the kitchen." Spinel said.

Fujitaka followed Spinel to the kitchen. "Thank you, Spinel."

"You're welcome." Spinel nodded and floated away.

"Good morning." Fujitaka greeted Eriol when he saw him standing in front of the kitchen counter, whisking a big bowl of eggs.

"Good morning." Eriol smiled. "Did you sleep well? You woke up early. Jetlag?"

"I believe so. But I slept well last night." Fujitaka replied and approached the younger man. "Anything I can do to help?"

"I'm fine. But if you want to help, please start on the pancake." Eriol showed him where the batter was.

Fujitaka started making pancakes. "You have a nice house."

"Thank you. It's actually Clow's house." Eriol told him. He grabbed another pan and heated up some oil. He poured the egg into the pan to make scrambled egg.

"Oh? When was it built?" Fujitaka asked as he flipped the pancake.

"I don't know for sure, but most probably sometime in the 14th century. It's the Reed family house, have been for generations." Eriol stirred the egg. "But of course, it has gone through numerous renovations."

"That's very interesting." Fujitaka said. "So, the house still stays in the family."

"Yes, I suppose." Eriol nodded. "Even though I don't carry the name, I'm still a Reed."

"Morning!" They heard Sakura's voice from the doorway. "Dad! You're up early!"

"Good morning, Sakura. I believe I have jetlag." Fujitaka greeted his daughter.

"Oh yeah, jetlag sucks." Sakura walked to the cabinet and grabbed some mugs. "Would you like tea or coffee, Dad?"

"Tea is fine, Sakura." Fuijtaka said and Sakura put two tea bags into two mugs, one for Fujitaka, one for Eriol. The coffee machine was already running.

Eriol moved the egg into a big dish before starting on the bacon and sausages.

Fujitaka stacked the pancakes on a plate. "What are we going to do today?"

"Hm, I think we're going to the Tower Bridge and the museum. If we have time, we could go check out The Shard as well."

"When are we going to the Buckingham Palace?" Fujitaka asked.

"That should be tomorrow… Hii, did you get the tickets?" Sakura checked.

"I did, for tomorrow. We can go to London's Eye too today." Eriol flipped the bacon. "We can go to the House of Parliament and Big Ben tomorrow too."

"Sounds like a good plan." Fujitaka nodded as Touya and Yue showed up.

"Yue?" Sakura looked surprised.

"Hello, Sakura. Touya and Yukito got lost, so I had to take over." Yue explained.

Sakura smiled. "Yes, this house could be confusing. I got lost too at first. It's good that you still remember."

"A lot of things have changed since I was here though." Yue said.

"I did some renovation." Eriol said. "Some parts of the house were starting to fall apart and had to be repaired or rebuilt entirely."

"Tea? Coffee?" Sakura offered as Yue turned back to Yukito.

"Coffee, please." Touya yawned. He was still a little sleepy.

"Tea for me, please." Yukito said and Sakura placed a tea bag into another mug.

Sakura poured the hot water into the mugs and took the mugs to the table. She then went to get the sugar and milk and brought them to the table too. Lastly, she poured two mugs of coffee for herself and Touya.

"Sit down. Here's the sugar and milk. Oh, hold on, I'll get the creamer." She went to the fridge to get the creamer for the coffee.

Everyone sat down and started eating breakfast. They went over their plan for today, with Sakura's assurance that they absolutely didn't have to do everything and would play it by the ear.

After breakfast, Sakura and Eriol cleaned up quickly and they got ready to leave.

They took their family around London, visiting the various landmarks and taking a lot of pictures. They went to the Tower Bridge and the Victoria and Albert museum in the morning. Then they had a late lunch and continued the tour, ending the evening at the London Eye.

"That was great!" Touya said at the end of the day.

"Get some rest, everyone. We'll have another full day tomorrow with the booked tours and all." Sakura told them.

They bid each other good night and retired to their rooms.

"Maybe we overdid it today. After all, it's only their first day." Sakura mused as she sat in the bathtub. Eriol was standing by the sink, brushing his teeth.

"You're excited and wanted to show them everything."

"Hm, true. But the goal is to help Dad relax and for everyone to enjoy themselves, not to rush to places, one after another. We should take it easy…"

"After tomorrow, the schedule is pretty open. We can relax a little."

"Yes." Sakura nodded and got up. She reached for the towel and dried herself off before wrapping the towel around herself and made her way to the sink. She ran her toothbrush under the water, applied the toothpaste and started brushing her teeth as Eriol walked to the bedroom.

The next day, they went to Buckingham Palace, the House of Parliament and the Big Ben. For dinner, they bought fish and chips and ate at home.

* * *

"The rain is so heavy." Touya said as he stood by the window.

"Unfortunately, it's quite a common thing here in London." Sakura said from her place on the couch. "It looks like we're not going to be going anywhere today."

They had planned to go to Hyde Park, but that wasn't happening anymore. The rain started early this morning and had been getting worse as the day went by.

"We could go for a drive, but with this rain, there's not much to see." Eriol said.

"Then let's just stay here for today." Yukito said. "I don't mind. It's supposed to be a holiday when we can relax. We're not in any rush, are we?"

"Yukito is right. Let's just have a lazy day indoors today." Touya agreed.

So it was decided that they would spent their day at home.

"Eriol, can I take a look at your book collection?" Fujitaka asked and Eriol led him to the library.

"Hey, Sakura, I saw a pool table. Can we use that?" Touya asked.

"Yes, of course." Sakura nodded and they went to the game room.

"Oh, I don't play though." Yukito said.

"Neither do I." Sakura said. "Eriol usually plays with John. Let me get him." Sakura left them in the game room and went to fetch her husband, who was in his study. "Hii, are you busy?"

"No, just checking emails. Why?" Eriol asked.

"Touya wants to play pool, but he has nobody to play with."

"Give me a second. I just need to send this." Eriol typed his reply and clicked 'Send'. He closed his computer and went with his wife to the game room.

Touya and Eriol played pool with Yukito and Sakura watching from the side. At some point, Sakura announced that she was going to make lunch and Yukito went with her.

After lunch, the rain hadn't stopped. They hung out in the living room, just relaxing.

"I'll play something." Eriol said and moved to the piano. He sat down and started playing some music, which everyone enjoyed. Next, it was Touya's turn.

"It's been a long time since I had this kind of relaxing day." Fujitaka said. "In fact, I don't remember ever having a day like this."

"I'm glad, Dad. That's the whole point of coming here, isn't it? So that you could relax and not worry about a thing." Sakura said.

"That's right." Touya agreed. "I think this is good for all of us. I've been rather busy too lately. It's good to be able to relax and not think about work for once."

After dinner, they decided to have an early night since there was nothing much that they could do anyway. Outside, the heavy rain had turned into a thunderstorm.

"Good night, everyone." Sakura told them. She was going to stay in the living room to watch Netflix. Kero and Spinel were with her and Eriol was in his study.

"Man, the storm outside, these corridors… This house could get creepy." Touya commented as they walked back to their room.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Yukito said reassuringly.

"I'm surprised Sakura isn't scared." Touya said as they entered their room.

"I'm so thirsty…" Touya said as he lay in bed a couple of hours later.

"Didn't you bring water?" Yukito asked sleepily from beside him.

"No. I guess I could go and get some." Touya got up and put on his robe. At the same time, there was a loud thunder that made him jump. "Geeze!"

Yukito chuckled. "And you like to laugh at Sakura for being scared."

"Shut up!" Touya grumbled and walked to the door. He reached for the handle and paused briefly, but long enough for Yukito to notice.

"Do you want me, or Yue, to accompany you?" Yukito asked teasingly.

"No! I'm not scared! Why would I be scared? I can see spirits. Nothing scares me."

"Okay. Bye then." Yukito turned and pulled the blanket up.

Touya opened the door and stepped into the dark corridor. He wasn't sacred, but the unfamiliar environment made him uneasy. He tried to remember which way to go and started walking. "Scared? Why would I be scared? There's nothing here that scares me." He muttered to himself as he navigated through the corridor. "Huh? Have I not been here earlier?" He looked around and scratched his head.

Touya continued to walk, but he felt like he was walking in circles. A small part of him told himself to give up and go back to his room, but the more stubborn part compelled him to go on, until he reached a dead end. "Shit…" Touya muttered in annoyance.

When he heard the door opened and a faint light flooded into the hallway, Touya jumped in surprise and turned around to see Eriol standing by the open door, Sakura peeking out from behind him. Both of them were dressed in pajamas and sleep robes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Is everything okay? What are you doing?" Eriol apologized. Touya saw he wasn't wearing his glasses. It looked like they were both ready for bed.

"I'm okay." Touya said quickly. "Sorry to wake you up. I just wanted to get some water from the kitchen."

"I'll go with you. Go back to bed, Hii." Sakura yawned and told her husband. Eriol just smiled in amusement before stepping back into their room. "Come on, Touya."

"I didn't get lost!" Touya told her. "It's just dark and unfamiliar."

"I didn't say you were. But this house _is_ confusing." Sakura said calmly as she started walking. "Took me a couple of weeks to really familiarize myself with the layout."

"I thought you'd be scared living in a house like this." Touya said.

"I was, at first. You know me… But Eriol has made sure that there's nothing else here but us and after a while, I got used to it. It is, after all, my home now."

"I didn't see any sort of alarm. Aren't you worried about intruder?" Touya asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No. Nobody could get into the house without Eriol knowing about it. He'll know the moment anyone stepped across the threshold, past the gate."

"Well, he could be asleep."

"He could be, but the house would alert him." Sakura told him as they walked down the stairs. "Nothing could get into the house if Eriol didn't want them to."

"That's quite something."

"This house has magic and Eriol is the master of the house. And when you're talking about magic, especially Eriol's magic, there are… perks."

They arrived in the kitchen and Touya got a glass of water.

Sakura took out a pint of ice cream from the fridge. "You want some?"

"Why are you getting ice cream at… What time is it now?" Touya asked.

"Midnight snack. Well, not exactly as it's only eleven." Sakura said casually. "Do you want any or not?"

"Might as well." Touya finally said.

Sakura scooped the ice cream into two bowls.

"You have one hell of a security system." Touya said as they walked back upstairs.

Sakura agreed. "Yes, that's why I'm not scared. I have no reason to be."

Sakura walked Touya to his room and bid him good night. "Oh, one more thing." She said. "The light switch is over here, if you need to go out." She showed him.

"Okay. Thanks." Touya watched Sakura walked away in the dark and disappeared around the corner.

Sakura went back to her room and found Eriol waiting for her in bed. "Everything ok?"

"Yes, he was just lost, but of course, he didn't want to admit it." Sakura smiled. She hadn't wanted to get ice cream, but she knew Touya would feel bad if she said she was just accompanying him. "I got ice cream."

"Nice." Eriol smiled. He wouldn't say no to midnight snack. "Give it here."

They ate the ice cream before going to sleep.

* * *

"You expect me to believe that not a single ghost or spirit lives at your place?" Touya asked Eriol the next day. Sakura was talking to Fujitaka and Yukito.

"None. There has never been. The magic of the house is designed to repel them." Eriol paused. "Well, Clow's spirit is still around and he drops by every now and then, but that's different."

"I thought you're not scared of ghost?"

"I'm not and I don't mind their presence, but it doesn't mean I want to share my living space with them. As you know, some spirits could be very… troublesome. And now, with Sakura in the house, I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable."

"That's true. Does Sakura know about Clow's spirit hanging out in the house?"

"She does, but she doesn't mind. Seeing that technically we're the same person and our souls are tied to each other's."

Touya chuckled. "Can't have one without the other, huh?"

"Correct." Eriol nodded.

"It's an old house though."

"It's a few centuries old, yes. It was built even before Clow's time. It has belonged to Clow's family for generations."

"It's in a good state though." Touya said. The house looked like a brand new house, with no sign of deterioration whatsoever. "Magic?"

"Magic." Eriol confirmed.

"Why are you two whispering like a pair of gossiping girls?" Sakura asked. "Let's go!"

"Coming, dear." Eriol went to her dutifully.

They were taking their family to Hyde Park Wonderland to watch the circus and check out the Christmas market.

"How nice!" Yukito said happily as he sipped on a cup of hot chocolate. "England is really something."

"It's quite different from Japan, yes." Touya agreed, holding his own hot chocolate in his hands.

"I love it here." Sakura said. "There was a culture shock at first, but now I really like it."

They explored the market before watching the circus. Once the show was over, they just walked around to enjoy the atmosphere before going back to the house.


	2. Chapter 2

A day before Christmas, they drove to the lake house located about two hours north from London. Fujitaka was at the passenger seat and Touya, Yukito and Sakura at the back with the guardians. While Spinel quietly sat on Sakura’s lap, Kero and Touya got into an argument as soon as they started the trip. Finally, Eriol told Kero to sit at the front with Fujitaka.

Eriol turned into a driveway that led to the lake house. He waved his hand and the gate opened, allowing them to pass.

They purchased the lake house six months ago. They chose the location because they liked the view and the place was surrounded by woods, which meant they would have a complete privacy. It was basically located in the middle of nowhere, seeing that the nearest town was about half an hour drive away and there was no neighbour in the vicinity. This was exactly what they’d been looking for.

The place had needed some fixings, but Eriol had made a quick work on it during their last visit, as well as put some magic into the place. They had shopped for furniture and other necessities and had stayed here for a few days to fix the cabin and install some stuff, such as the heater, a modern stove, a fridge and an oven. They also did a full rework in the bathrooms to include a more modern setup. Now, it was as good as new and fully functional.

Eriol pulled the car into park and everyone got out. He then raised the shield to discourage any unwanted attention.

“All set, boys.” Eriol said and the guardians turned into their true forms. The shield mainly served as a way to hide them from view so that the guardians could freely roam around, even in their true forms. They could also go explore the woods. Eriol and the guardians had explored and checked the surrounding woods to make sure that there was no unwanted danger or presence lurking in the woods. 

On their way here, they had stopped at the town to eat lunch and get some supplies, including groceries. They got the groceries and their bags from the car trunk and brought them inside.

The lake house was cozy. There were two floors. The second floor had the master bedroom with its own en-suite bathroom and a balcony overlooking the lake, along with two other bedrooms (with their own balconies) and a full-sized bathroom. The first floor had a small bathroom, kitchen, dining room and sitting room with a big fireplace. They had put a piano and a TV in the sitting room too.

There was a deck where they had put some chairs and table and the deck extended to a pier leading to the lake. At the end of the pier, there were some chairs. Nearby, there was a storage room where they had put a small rowboat, fishing equipment, as well as other tools and things.

After everyone got settled, Eriol asked if anyone would like to fish. Both Fujitaka and Touya said they’d love to and they got the fishing equipment from the storage and went to the pier to fish.

“This is nice.” Fujitaka said as he sat on the chair, his fishing rod in hand. “Oh, thank you Yukito.” He said when Yukito handed him a mug of hot chocolate.

“It is, isn’t it, Dad?” Sakura said as she handed Eriol his own hot chocolate. “It’s very relaxing.” She sat down beside her husband. They were all bundled up in sweaters and jackets as the weather was quite cold, but not freezing.

Fujitaka agreed. “It’s very relaxing.”

They chatted as they waited for the fish. About 30 minutes later, Fujitaka caught his first fish, followed by Eriol shortly after.

“Why am I not getting any fish?” Touya complained while he hadn’t caught any fish half an hour later.

“Maybe if you don’t look so scary, the fish would be more willing to bite.” Sakura said, earning herself a glare from her brother. She just smiled sweetly at him.

After another hour or so, they had gotten six fish and stopped fishing since they had had enough for everyone.

“I’ll cook some rice.” Sakura collected the empty mugs and went back to the house.

Eriol and Touya took it upon themselves to start the fire and grill the fish. They wanted to grill the fish the old fashioned way, saying that it tasted better that way.

“Sakura, I’ll help you with dinner.” Fujitaka said and Yukito offered to set the table.

“It’s a very nice place you got here.” Fujitaka commented. “Cozy and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.”

Sakura nodded. “We chose this place specifically for that. To get away from the city. Besides, the guardians could roam around freely without worrying about being seen. There’s woods nearby that they can explore too. This place is perfect.”

Twenty minutes later, they sat around the dining table, eating dinner of rice, grilled fish with soup and salad. After dinner, they cleaned up and then sat around the living room. Eriol had stacked the woods and lighted up the fireplace. They drank hot tea and the guardians were relaxing nearby in their true forms.

“We can go for a hike tomorrow if you like.” Eriol suggested. “The woods are pretty easy to navigate and safe too.”

Everyone readily agreed. At 9.30pm, they decided to call it a night and went to their rooms, leaving the guardians sleeping downstairs.

“Your turn.” Sakura said as she opened the bathroom door. Eriol put his phone down, grabbed his pajamas and made his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

“I’m glad everyone is having a great time.” Sakura said as she wiped her hair dry. “Especially Dad. He looks relaxed. A few days here really will do him some good.”

“I agree. He did look tired when he first came here, but he looks more relaxed now.” Eriol said as he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower.

“Maybe after this it will be easier to convince him to take a vacation. He’s getting older. He shouldn’t push himself too hard.” Sakura said and picked up the hairbrush.

“Do you think maybe he’s lonely?” Eriol asked from the shower. “With you and Touya gone, he’s all alone in the house.”

Sakura paused at his words. “You think that’s what’s been happening? I mean, yes, I though of that, but do you think that’s why he throws himself into his work? I mean, before we got married and Touya and I were still living in the house, he was already busy all the time.”

“That was because he had to provide for you. When you were younger, he had to take care of you, but when you and Touya became more independent, he didn’t have to work as hard, yet he does.” Eriol said. “But of course, that’s also because he loves his job and now that he doesn’t have to worry about you two, he could focus fully on his work.”

Sakura thought about it and realized Eriol was right. When she and Touya were younger and needed support, Fujitaka had worked hard to provide for them, on top of being a single father. Even after Touya graduated high school and could provide for himself, Sakura was still in school. Fujitaka still had to provide for her, and be her Dad. However, as Sakura got older herself, he also started to advance his career further, spending more time away from home.

After Sakura got married, Touya moved out, leaving Fujitaka alone in the house. Now, he didn’t need to provide for his children anymore as Touya was working and Sakura had a husband, but he continued to work hard. Sakura doubted money was the motivation. “I think you’re right. I think he’s just lonely.” Sakura said sadly. “Usually after the kids are gone, the parents still have each other, but Mom is not there and he’s all by himself. So, he works. What do you think we should do?”

Eriiol considered her question. “People deal with loneliness differently. He loves his job and if he’s lonely, it’s natural that he turns to his job because that makes him happy. If that’s the case, there’s nothing much that we can do.” He turned off the water and stepped out, grabbed the towel and dried himself. “The only thing we can do is to remind him to take a break every now and then.”

Sakura sighed. “I guess that’s the only way.” She had finished brushing her hair and brushed her teeth as he got dressed.

* * *

“How much further?” Touya asked. They were hiking towards the top of the hill. Sakura and Eriol had been there and Sakura said that the view was worth the hike. The trail was pretty easy. It was the cold that made it a little difficult. They’d bundled up to keep themselves as warm as possible, but as the day progressed and they got to higher ground, the air got colder.

“Just a little bit more, Touya. Then you can sit and rest.” Sakura told him. “Do you need the guardian to carry you?”

Touya looked offended. “Absolutely not!”

Sakura smirked. She had a small bag with her. They had carried along some picnic necessities, such as picnic blanket and food and drinks. Sakura and Yukito had spent the morning making sandwiches for everybody. Currently, Eriol was carrying the drinks in his backpack and Touya was carrying the sandwiches. The blanket was in Yukito’s bag.

“We’re here!” Sakura said happily as they reached the top.

They spread the blanket and sat down. They distributed the foods and drinks and started their picnic.

“You’re right, Sakura. The view is worth the hike.” Fujitaka said as they looked around. From here, they could see the expanse of lands and pastures. They could even see the town, albeit very far away.

Sakura poured out tea from one of the thermoses into her mug. “Hm… This is the best! Hot drink in cold weather.”

“My butt is freezing, but other than that, nice picnic.” Touya said.

Sakura glared at him. “Must you ruin the moment, Touya?”

“The ground _is_ cold!” Touya defended himself.

“Fine, fine.” Sakura said. “Next time we’ll bring you some butt warmer.” She drank her tea and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like ‘wuss’.

“What did you say?!” Touya glared at his sister.

“Dear, will you be so kind?” Sakura turned to her husband. “Then we won’t have to spend the rest of the picnic listening to his complaints.”

Eriol shook his head in amusement and placed his hand on the ground. The ground warmed up.

“So much better!” Touya said happily as Sakura rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Eriol.”

“No problem.” Eriol said as he bit into his sandwich.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Touya and Kero argued about something, but everyone else was too relaxed to care.

After the picnic, they went back to the house and had a relaxing afternoon. Fujitaka even went to take a nap as the two couples sat in the sitting room.

“Lonely?” Touya asked. “Well, I suppose it could be. He’s by himself now.”

“It’s possible.” Sakura said from her place beside Eriol. “He’s been working so hard for all his life to provide for us and then suddenly we’re both out of the house. He might not know what to do with himself, so he works.”

“Okay, assuming that he is lonely, what can we do? Get him some friends?” Touya asked as he sipped his tea.

“I’m not sure that would work. He has his work colleagues and they don’t even hang out outside work.” Sakura said.

“Then should we move to the house?” Yukito suddenly suggested to Touya. “We can pay him rent and that way, he has extra income and some company when he needs it. We can also keep an eye on him. After the hospital visit last month, I’m worried if he’s all alone in the house.”

Touya considered this. “That sounds like a good idea and all, but he might not agree to it. You know how he is, he doesn’t like to bother others.”

“We can say that we could cut our living cost this way, and actually, we will.” Yukito pointed out.

Sakura nodded. “If you two can do that, that would be so great! The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation, if that would cut down your living cost. Then he wouldn’t be alone.”

“Alright, we’ll bring it up to him once we get back to Japan. If we do now, it might upset him.” Touya agreed. “He’s been enjoying this vacation so far.”

The rest agreed and then at 5pm, Sakura and Eriol prepared dinner. They could see Fujitaka sat by himself by the lake from the kitchen.

“I’m worried about him.” Sakura said as she watched her father. “The more I think about it, the more I feel that he is lonely.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not something that can be avoided.” Eriol said as he cooked. “Sometimes, it’s not even about the company. One could be surrounded by people, and still feel lonely. Others could be alone, but not lonely.”

Sakura sighed. “I think Dad has always been lonely, even with Touya and I in the house. I think he’s been lonely since Mom died.”

“If Touya and Yukito move into the house, that will help. At the very least, they could distract him and keep an eye on him.” Eriol said.

Sakura agreed. “Do you think he would want that?”

“Probably not at first, as he wouldn’t want to inconvenience them.” Eriol moved the food onto a big plate. “We can try to visit more often. I’m planning to resign by the end of next year.”

“Next year?” Sakura asked, surprised. He never mentioned anything about it before.

“Things are pretty much under control now. I’ll be available for consultation, if they need help, but I don’t think they need me fulltime. Almost everything can be computerized these days. Makes it easier to keep track on things.” Eriol explained.

“I think that would be good. They can still consult you when needed, but you’re not going to be working fulltime.” Sakura said. “Have you talked to John about this?”

“No, not yet. It’s still a year away. I’ll talk to him closer to the date.” Eriol said. “Once I’ve resigned, we can even move to Japan if you want.”

“Let’s not think about that yet. We don’t need to rush to move anywhere.” Sakura picked up the plate from the kitchen counter.

“You like London, don’t you?” Eriol asked, smiling.

“It has its charm.” Sakura carried the plates to the table. “Besides, if you’re still going to help them every now and then, it would be much easier to stay in London rather than having to travel back and forth, wouldn’t it?”

“You don’t have to travel. Just me.” Eriol pointed out.

“If you think you’d be leaving me behind in Japan when you travel around, think again.” Sakura told him.

Erol grinned. “Alright, alright. Let’s not worry about that just yet. We can decide on that when we come to it.”

They called the others and they had dinner.

* * *

The next few days passed by quickly. They spent their days relaxing, fishing, and enjoying each other’s company. They went back to London on the 30th of December. On New Yea’s Eve, they went to downtown to the countdown party.

“The fireworks are so amazing!” Sakura told them excitedly. They had decided to do the same thing and watch the fireworks from the rooftop of a building.

“And how are we going to go up there?” Touya looked up.

“The guardians could go up there.” Sakura pointed out. “Yukito, well Yue could carry you, Dad and I can get onto the boys. Eriol can take care of himself.”

In the end, Fujitaka got onto Kero’s back, Yue carried Touya up and Sakura got onto Spinel’s back.

“Uh, whoa…” Fujitaka nervously looked down to the ground.

“It’s okay, Dad. Just hold on to him. There, Eriol is keeping an eye on you. He won’t let anything happen to you.” Sakura assured her father from her place on Spinel’s back. Eriol was floating nearby, ready to do something if he did fall.

“You, you do this regularly?” Fujitaka asked as he held onto Kero’s harness tightly.

“You’ll get used to it after a while.” Sakura said reassuringly. She would never tell her father that she could also jump from one guardian to another. He’d be horrified.

They reached the top of the building and landed on the rooftop.

“Sakura, I thought you could fly too?” Touya asked his sister as Yue transformed back into Yukito.

“I can.” Sakura hopped down from Spinel’s back as Fujitaka did the same from Kero’s back. “But it’s easier this way.” By now, Sakura could do some staff-less and card-less magic, but flying definitely wasn’t one of them.

They moved to the side and waited for the countdown. After midnight, they wished each other happy new year and watched the fireworks.

After new year, time flew and soon, it was time for Fujitaka, Touya and Yukito to go back to Japan.

“Please take care of yourself, okay Dad?” Sakura said worriedly.

“I will, Sakura. I’m going to take breaks every now and then.” Fujitaka assured her.

Sakura smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you when I see you.”

They waved at them as they went in.

“I hope he’s going to be okay.” Sakura said as Eriol wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“He’s going to be okay, Saku.” Eriol said. “I think the hospital visit last month has reminded him to take breaks.”

“It’s just so bad that it had come to that before he actually takes a break.” Sakura said as they walked to the parking garage.

“The doctor said as long as he doesn’t push himself too hard, there shouldn’t be any problem.” Eriol reminded her. “He knows that now.”

Sakura nodded. “Yeah.”

* * *

_A few months later…_

“Resigning?” John was surprised. He was sitting in his office and Eriol sat across from him. “Why?”

“Haven’t I told you from the beginning? I’m only here to help get things under control.” Eriol said. “I’m not interested in working here permanently. You know that.”

John knew that, but he was hoping that Eriol would stick around longer. “When are you leaving then? Are you going to go to Japan again?”

“We haven’t decided on that. For now, I’ll still be around if you need to consult. But I’m not going to work here fulltime.” Eriol said. “I’m planning to leave by the end of the year, I’ll prepare accordingly.”

“Okay.” John thought that was better than nothing.

For the next few months, Eriol prepared for his resignation. He continued working until the office closed for the holiday. On his last day, he handed in his resignation letter to John.

“What are you going to do now?” John asked as they sat in his office.

“Travel. Sakura and I have been wanting to do that for years and now that I’m unemployed, we can finally travel.” Eriol told him with a smile.

John chuckled. “Sounds like a good plan.” He paused and then continued. “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this, but you helped anyway.”

Eriol nodded. “The council is necessary.”

“You’ll still be available for consultation, right?” John checked. “Of course you’ll be compensated. We can’t just consult you for free.”

Eriol assured John that he would available to help when John needed the help. “Appreciate the compensation. It would be used to fund our travels.”

“You have other incomes though.” John pointed out. He knew Eriol had various investments and was wealthy himself. “I honestly didn’t take you as someone who’d care that much for money.”

“I don’t. But I have a wife and she deserves the best that I can give her. Alas, most of the times, it involves money.” Eriol told John.

“I agree with you. She deserves the best.” John nodded. “Well, it’s been a pleasure. I’m looking forward to working with you again, Eriol.”

“Until next time, John.” Eriol said and they shook hands. “Oh, by the way, Sakura wanted me to ask if you’re available on Sunday for dinner.”

“Of course.” John accepted. “I’ll see you two on Sunday then.”

Eriol picked up his bag from the office and looked around. He’d been working here for the past eight years and now, he was finally leaving.

Eriol closed the door behind him and left, not looking back.


End file.
